There is nothing like gardening to my favorite music
If you ever wander over to my backyard while I am outside gardening, you will most certainly hear music playing and me singing along at the top of my lungs. Gardening, yard work and music all go together like popcorn and butter and peanut M&M's. In fact, I’m not even sure I would still enjoy gardening if there was no music to play in the background. There is no better feeling than dirty hands, the sun on your shoulders, bare feet (although you know I can’t do this anymore, and I’ve put on sandals) and some tunes playing loudly nearby.
I’ve got a Bluetooth speaker that connects to my phone and plays whatever I feel in the mood for that day. Fleetwood Mac or Billy Joel are always good choices if I’m looking for something classic. Taylor Swift was my number-one artist on Spotify last year, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Whatever my heart desires can be blaring from the speaker with the tap of a finger on my phone.
Going old-school
But if I’m feeling particularly noncommittal, my favorite thing is to drag the ancient silver boom box from the garage that looks EXACTLY like the one Lloyd Dobler held above his head in Say Anything. All I have to do is prop it up on the edge of the garden bed and spend five precarious minutes adjusting the finicky dial to my favorite oldies station on the radio. I’ll be honest, the “oldies” station regularly plays the tunes of the 80s and 90s, which feels a little rude because I’m not THAT old. However, they are my jams from high school and college, and it’s always a treat to take a walk down memory lane.
Weeding, pruning and replanting (because the chipmunks and rabbits have eaten what I planted the weeks before) to the nostalgic tunes of my very first concert, Boyz II Men, or “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane, the theme song of my senior year of high school, makes it all worth it. It’s like musical roulette. Who knows what I’ll hear next while I thin out the carrots?
Motivational tunes
I’m sure my neighbors heard me singing along to Van Morrison last fall while I dug my dahlia tubers out of the ground. Hall and Oates, James Taylor, and the Indigo Girls make excellent sing-along companions for pruning back tomato plants and weeding spring lettuce and spinach. I prefer the late 80s power ballads of Richard Marx and Bryan Adams for heavier jobs like mulching, edging beds, or transplanting hostas. A good pop mix goes a long way for the days I have a random bunch of jobs to do, like cleaning out the shed. The upbeat music keeps me moving and motivated.
Music bribery
When I make my kids come outside to help in the yard, it’s often part of the bribe that I let them choose the music. Thankfully, my kids have good taste, and I enjoy at least 75 percent of the bands they make me listen to. If you wander past my yard in the fall, when it’s time to rake the leaves, you’ll definitely hear more Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and The 1975.
Listen to my garden playlist!
My gift to you this year is a link to one of my many Spotify Gardening Playlists! Check it out here: Jamie’s Gardening Playlist on Spotify.
Does Jamie mind the audience while she’s singing and gardening? Nah. She loves a good karaoke night and is overly confident in her ability to hold a tune.
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